Only 8 years old at the time of the tsunami, Meri, now 15, was found by a woman who forced her to beg in the streets, according to an Associated Press report. When Meri was kicked out for bringing in too little money, the woman told her to go find her parents, who she said were in Meulaboh, a town in Aceh province. Meri set out to find her family, only recalling the name of her grandfather, Ibrahim.

She eventually encountered someone at a cafe who helped the teen track down her grandfather, who then contacted the girl’s parents.

“When I saw my mother, I knew it was her,” Meri tells the AP. “I just knew it.”

While the AP points out that such reunions are rare — and notes how the five reunions announced since the 2004 tsunami have turned out to be untrue — Meri’s parents remain confident that their family is whole again.